Do you always have to use a blow-off tube?

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DannPM

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I got it right this time, or at least I think so...

Made a Trappist Enkel with a SG of about 1.052.

I did a starter with Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes, 18 hours, then a re-infusion of wort for 3 more hours prior to pitching.

The krausen was about to hit the airlock, so I rushed down to my LHBS, picked up a bung, some tubing, drilled a hole, and made a blow off tube, which is now working perfectly, draining into a bowl of star-san, keeping air out :ban:

Is this just a damn good fermentation or will I always have to do this when I nail it?

(Btw, better bottle, 6 gallons, filled to five exactly)
 
From what I've read, if you have enough room for the krausen, it's not needed. 6-6.5 gallon carboy/bucket for a 5 gallon batch should be OK 99% of the time.
 
For that low of an OG if you have that much head space it's probably fine with an airlock. Where I usually get a ton of krausen is with the higher gravity batches.
 
It depends on the yeast strain, pitching rate, ingredients, O.G. etc. Anything with a lot of flaked adjunct or wheat for me really requires a blow off, I had a saison spray the ceiling before.
 
From what I've read, if you have enough room for the krausen, it's not needed. 6-6.5 gallon carboy/bucket for a 5 gallon batch should be OK 99% of the time.

Yeah that's what I thought too. Pitched at 70 degrees, keeping it in my bedroom which is 64 ambient temperature with wet paper towels over it to cool with evaporation, and it's still blowing off.

I've never used this yeast before, maybe it's this strain?
 
For that low of an OG if you have that much head space it's probably fine with an airlock. Where I usually get a ton of krausen is with the higher gravity batches.

I'm guessing I took a bad reading for the OG then. With this kind of activity, I'm guessing it was a lot higher.
 
I have only experienced one messy blow off. Since then, I have always used a blow off tube. So much easier than cleaning kreuzen off the walls, and the carpet, and the backside of the closet door... :(
 
Really, though, there's no reason NOT to use a blow off...

I have only experienced one messy blow off. Since then, I have always used a blow off tube. So much easier than cleaning kreuzen off the walls, and the carpet, and the backside of the closet door... :(

...and more than enough reason to consider it!!!
 
From what I've read, if you have enough room for the krausen, it's not needed. 6-6.5 gallon carboy/bucket for a 5 gallon batch should be OK 99% of the time.


99% still leaves that 1% chance. I had my second brew just start showing in the airlock so I quickly rigged a blow off tube and all was good. Now I just start every brew with a blow off tube, then switch to the airlock when thing slow down.

SHMBO is very supportive of my hobby (addiction) but I think that support may just subside if I blew beer all over the walls and ceiling. :mug:
 
I used to use one every time on five gallon carboys. I switched to these rather large carboys 7+ gallone and I can get by with just airlocks. Buts as mentioned, there is really no reason not to. I'd never go back to smaller fermenters though.
 
From personal experience of air locks popping off and making messes, my rule is that I use a blow off tube any time I use a starter. Works for me, individual results may vary.
 
99% still leaves that 1% chance. I had my second brew just start showing in the airlock so I quickly rigged a blow off tube and all was good. Now I just start every brew with a blow off tube, then switch to the airlock when thing slow down.
I put my fermenter in a chopped 55gallon drum. Any overflow will be collected in the drum and not spill on the floor. It cost me nothing.

DSCN1125.jpg
 
I have never had an airlock clog and blow out. But I have had some really furious fermentation! After reading and seeing all the horror stories here on HBT, I started using a blow off tube with brew #2...and I've been doing it that way ever since. I switch it out for an airlock after about 24-48 hours of fermentation, when I think it has calmed down enough.

glenn514:mug:
 
I have stopped using airlocks entirely, I just rig a blowoff hose to the brew when it goes into the fermentation fridge. I have seen no connection to starting gravity, yeast or grainbill and whether it will blowoff or not. I prefer to pitch the yeast, hook up the blowoff tube and forget about the beer for a month or so. I don't worry about if the airlock is getting plugged or making a mess, I just need to make sure that the blowoff bucket doesn't overflow.
 
I find that american strains like 1056 and stuff need a blowoff and english strains generally do not. Even for a standard gravity beer with 1056, it comes out of the airlock everytime. I do pitch active and healthy starters though.
 
I put my fermenter in a chopped 55gallon drum. Any overflow will be collected in the drum and not spill on the floor. It cost me nothing.

DSCN1125.jpg

That bucket won't protect your walls and ceiling when the lid blows off!!! Read up on some of the horror stories around here. They led me to do just this...

I have stopped using airlocks entirely, I just rig a blowoff hose to the brew when it goes into the fermentation fridge. I have seen no connection to starting gravity, yeast or grainbill and whether it will blowoff or not. I prefer to pitch the yeast, hook up the blowoff tube and forget about the beer for a month or so. I don't worry about if the airlock is getting plugged or making a mess, I just need to make sure that the blowoff bucket doesn't overflow.
 
I use fermcap-s and don't bother with a blowoff anymore with 0.5-1gal headspace on a 5gal batch. I still check on the beer just about daily, just in case. The last thing I need is a wort bomb to explode in my bedroom.
 
I find that american strains like 1056 and stuff need a blowoff and english strains generally do not. Even for a standard gravity beer with 1056, it comes out of the airlock everytime. I do pitch active and healthy starters though.

Well... I just had my biggest blowoff beer ever... and it was with S-04...

Pitched 5:30 last night, it was a little warm still ~78ish, house is at 65, figured it would be fine and would cool down quickly enough... went to a superbowl party... got home... 1030 ish and an inch and a half of krausen... woke up at 12:30 to tap tap tap GLUG tap tap tap GLUG tap tap tap GLUG...

blowoff made with 3/8 in tubing into a 1 liter water bottle half full of sanitizer... brown foam oozing into my bathtub...

1.058 stout... the only unusual ingredient was 4 oz of flaked barley in a partial mash (others ingredients were Maris Otter, Roast Barley, Coffee Malt, Crystal 75, and LME)
 
Nice brass collection! 7.62?
5.56. I keep the 7.62 in 5 gallon buckets and process in bulk. The 5.56 pictured is being sorted by headstamp for match loads. I'm a commercial reloader and sell locally.

That bucket won't protect your walls and ceiling when the lid blows off!!! Read up on some of the horror stories around here. They led me to do just this...
From what I've read and seen, it will ooze out of the airlock first, unless it's plugged. In that case a blow off tube won't help either if it's plugged.
 
5.56. I keep the 7.62 in 5 gallon buckets and process in bulk. The 5.56 pictured is being sorted by headstamp for match loads. I'm a commercial reloader and sell locally.


From what I've read and seen, it will ooze out of the airlock first, unless it's plugged. In that case a blow off tube won't help either if it's plugged.

So you're just hoping the oozing stager doesn't occur while you're asleep or at work?
 
I use a blow-off for all of my primary fermenters just to be safe. It'll never hurt to have one since its essentially a giant airlock.
 
For my carboys I use a 3 foot length of 1 inch tubing, cut diagonally at the end for easy insertion. I don't think it will ever clog. <knocking on wood>
 
I've had high gravity worts ferment slowly and never near the beginning of the tube, I've had lower gravity brews clog the tube with krausen matter. You're just better off slapping one on until fermentation calms down.
 
I'll usually monitor to see what it's doing; if the krausen is building I put on the blowoff, if not I don't. That method only works if I'm around at the critical time period where it's reaching the most vigorous part of fermentation and it's hard to gauge when that will occur; for me with what I think is good pitching rate and aeration it's usually within 8 to 16 hours that I know I'll need a blowoff or not. BTW that's with 5.5 gal in a 6.5 gal carboy.
 
I've used a blowoff tube for the first few days of fermenting since day one. I haven't even seen what really active fermentation looks like bubbling through a little airlock. For HUGE beers I use my better bottle with the Big Blow closure, the blow-off tube itself actually being 3/4" rigid PVC pipes... it's an absolute monster that could probably handle anything short of the entire 5gal somehow being ejected instantaneously. Overkill? Probably... but it looks really impressive when I have it set up, and with really big beers I always worry about the way the standard 3/8" flexible tubing bends.
 
I think I'm in trouble!!! this is my first time brewing anything.. I'm doing cider not beer... and my airlock has completely overflown twice it's 8 o'clock at night and I have no access to rubber tubing... Am I screwed? the fermentation is looking so violently that it's just almost pouring out of the bunghole! I am tripping out right now what do I do? Should I jump in my truck and drive down and see if that Home Depot is open? I hope someone lets me know by then???
 
Do you have any type of tubing? Vinyl, plastic, silicone... anything should work.

Home Depot should be open if you have no other options... you can check on their website to see the hours for the store near you.
 
I'd set the fermentor in the tub and let it overflow from the airlock until you can get some blow off tubing (tomorrow?)
 
I have a dirty vaporizer tube that was used to smoke marijuana with... It would be perfect but again there's residue of marijuana resin and smoke inside it would work perfect though size wize... Can I pour vodka through it? Please don't take this the wrong way guys I'm in a party house & it's my roomates.... I have put the airlock back on without the cap and I'm using the middle piece of the airlock to kind of try to keep out any foreign anything... Should I just leave it like this until tomorrow after work or should I try the dirty tubing and poor alcohol through it or bleach water?,
 
BadgerBrigade said:
I have a dirty vaporizer tube that was used to smoke marijuana with... It would be perfect but again there's residue of marijuana resin and smoke inside it would work perfect though size wize... Can I pour vodka through it? Please don't take this the wrong way guys I'm in a party house & it's my roomates.... I have put the airlock back on without the cap and I'm using the middle piece of the airlock to kind of try to keep out any foreign anything... Should I just leave it like this until tomorrow after work or should I try the dirty tubing and poor alcohol through it or bleach water?,

I somehow knew you couldn't be too far from me when I read this.
 
You can put the carboy in a container to catch the overflow and just cover the top loosely with a piece of sanitized aluminum foil. After the fermentation slows you can re-install the airlock.

Get a blow off assembly made and always install it at the start and you will have a lot less worries.
 
You can put the carboy in a container to catch the overflow and just cover the top loosely with a piece of sanitized aluminum foil. After the fermentation slows you can re-install the airlock.

Get a blow off assembly made and always install it at the start and you will have a lot less worries.

If I have it inside in the shower do I still need to put the aluminum foil over-the-top? Just to keep out bugs or to keep out air coming in? And is that tinfoil over the bung better than just putting the airlock on with the middle Kees inserted but not the cap isn't that kind of the same thing??
I'll do whatever you guys think is better I just kind of want to understand what I'm doing so I can learn...
 
I think I understand now why you wanted me to bring it inside bottlebomber... from reading other post... Don't put the yeast back to sleep right?!?! I had it outside for about 30 minutes after I saw all this violent bubbling... It slowed way down and now I brought it back inside I hope I didn't put the yeast to sleep... I gave it a shake and put it back into the shower... I have no tubing but I have the airlock back on with no cap, but I do have the centerpiece of the airlock in too, to kind of try to keep out anything foreign from going back inside.. Is this all okay or should I do anything differently? Someone on the forem told me to just put foil over the bunghole... should I pull my airlock back out and just put foil over it or is what I'm doing okay?
 
BadgerBrigade said:
I think I understand now why you wanted me to bring it inside bottlebomber... from reading other post... Don't put the yeast back to sleep right?!?! I had it outside for about 30 minutes after I saw all this violent bubbling... It slowed way down and now I brought it back inside I hope I didn't put the yeast to sleep... I gave it a shake and put it back into the shower... I have no tubing but I have the airlock back on with no cap, but I do have the centerpiece of the airlock in too, to kind of try to keep out anything foreign from going back inside.. Is this all okay or should I do anything differently? Someone on the forem told me to just put foil over the bunghole... should I pull my airlock back out and just put foil over it or is what I'm doing okay?

Foil is fine, and your cider is fine. Do you have a hydrometer?
 
Foil. No extra equipment to buy or take up space; co2 gets out, no air gets in. I ferment in a swamp cooler which catches any overflow. If you ferment at RT, put a towel underneath.
 
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